How Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant Doesn’t Have to Break the Bank

At some point, in any business, even as a Virtual Assistant – you reach a growth point where it seems most sensible to outsource some help. Even my own. What that new relationship looks like, is up to the goals you have set and the budget you can work with. 

Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant doesn’t have to break the bank, in fact, it is arguable you will get a larger return on investment than it will cost you. In freeing up time in your calendar to focus your family, the parts of the business where you thrive, or in the overall growth to your business by increasing the services/products you offer.

Here are a few ways to look at Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant without breaking the bank:

Start Small … with the Service Package

Start by looking at the immediate needs of your business – where can you delegate some tasks that take too much time administratively compared to where you want your business to grow.

The next thing is when looking to outsource, start out small. 5-10 hours a month to begin with. Then you can get your bearings on your needs, length of time to complete the tasks, and scale from there. After all, this person isn’t an employee – they are there to help you with specific services.

Create a List of Tasks that you would like to delegate that fits the package

Work on the tasks that you want to get off your plate – which will give you the hours you need back to focus on the areas of the business that you love and to give you back some more work-life balance.

Also, when making that list, track the time it takes you to do that work. This will give you an estimate of time for when you work with someone else as to best delegate and give the best due dates that are reasonable.

Some examples of tasks that you could delegate are:

1. Managing your Email and Calendar – prioritizing emails by Urgent/End of Week, ensuring calendar requests are answered and more
2.  Social Media – Scheduling/Creating posts to engage your audience
3. Simple Graphics/Worksheets in Canva (or Photoshop)
4. Following up with Clients/Service Providers on orders and shipping etc.
5. Invoicing – billing the client and then sending to clients
6. Answering calls and more!

Remember, Have open Communication with your VA

The only thing to remember when deciding to outsource to someone else, give yourself and that person time to adjust. 

That time for you needs to be in learning to let go of the tasks as well as learning the working style of the person so that there is success in the relationship.

The time for the VA needs to be that to learn how to communicate with you, learn how you want to work together as well. They will learn from you the expectations of the deliverables as well as know-how to communicate with you with questions as they get up to speed helping you.

This time will be a short inconvenience with a long term benefit.

Now, this is just a few things to factor in when you decide to make the leap to adding a Virtual Assistant to your team.

Believe me, when I say, you won’t regret it! 

With saying all that, what other factors do you take into account when you decide to outsource a person to your team?

Tara Reid

Tara Reid is a multi-passionate business and marketing strategist for introverted entrepreneurs who want to grow without relying on hustle culture or social media. With 18+ years of online business experience, she helps course creators, service providers, and digital product sellers build sustainable businesses through evergreen marketing, blogging, SEO, Pinterest, and email.

As the founder of the Introvertpreneur Club, Tara’s mission is to show heart-centered entrepreneurs that you don’t have to be loud to be successful. You just need the right strategies that fit your personality.

When she’s not supporting clients or creating new resources, you can find her at home in Canada with her three rescue dogs, a cup of coffee in hand, dreaming up her next project.

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